MAGPIES 1

Crittenden 79

DUNSTABLE TOWN 2

Hutton 4, Dixon 42

A MUCH-IMPROVED Dorchester Town pushed second-placed Dunstable all the way at the Avenue this afternoon but still came up short after conceding two poor first-half goals.

Poole loanee Charlie Davis went straight into the starting line-up as new signing from Bashley, Matt Oldring, had to settle for a place among the substitutes.

Jamie Gleeson was unavailable for the Southern Premier Division clash, while Micky Hubbard and Jason Brookes dropped to the bench.

Kyle Critchell returned and Callum Buckley was back in the team having been an unused replacement against Cirencester.

But it was far from a smooth reintroduction for Buckley.

The game was only four minutes old when the left-back, retreating to deal with a seemingly innocuous punt over the Dorchester defence, headed the ball past keeper Alan Walker-Harris.

David Hutton was given the easy task of walking the ball into the net.

It should have been 2-0 soon after when Charlie Henry’s cross found an unmarked Gary Mulligan five yards out.

Mulligan’s header crashed against the crossbar to really let Graham Kemp's men off the hook.

The hosts, to their credit, hit back and could well have levelled the scores a few minutes later.

Ben Joyce broke down the left but Dan Smith found the base of the post with his side-footed effort from close range.

There may not have been a great deal of clear-cut chances to follow those but the game was still an open one.

Smith drew a foul from Nick Beasant that brought the encounter’s first yellow card and the former forced Luke Chambers to tip a low shot around the post for a corner.

The visitors always looked dangerous going forward and Henry got into some decent positions on the right flank.

But it was from a more central position that Dunstable doubled their advantage just before the break.

A through ball found Terry Dixon in far too much space on the edge of the Magpies’ box and he made no mistake with his left foot.

Dorchester went close to halving the deficit less than two minutes into the second half.

Good work from Critchell ended with the right-back laying the ball to Joyce, however, he could only guide his attempt over the bar from eight yards.

Mulligan and then home skipper Nathan Walker saw headers go over and wide respectively, while Sam Lanahan worked his way into a promising position only to overrun the ball.

Despite being 2-0 down the Magpies weren’t out of the contest as the clock ticked past the hour mark – that was shown when Beasant had to make a last-ditch block to deny Joyce.

But you could sense it just wasn’t going to be Dorchester’s day midway through the second period when, for the second time in the match, Smith was denied by the post.

The hosts did eventually find a way past Chambers with 11 minutes to go.

A pin-point cross to the far post by Jake Smeeton was expertly despatched by Nick Crittenden to set up an exciting finale.

Unfortunately for the home fans, a succession of corners in the final few minutes failed to produce anything that really tested Chambers and Dunstable held out for the three points.

Magpies: Walker-Harris, Critchell (Oldring 73), Buckley (Parrett 85), Smeeton, N Walker, Dillon, Crittenden, Lanahan (Hubbard 78), Joyce, Davis, Smith. Subs not used: Brookes, Godfrey.

Dunstable: Chambers, Herd, Plowright, Beasant, Blackett, Davies, Watkins (Amu 87), Henry, Mulligan, Dixon (McKenzie-Lowe 82), Hutton (Marsh 69). Subs not used: Fontanelle, Head

Booked: Magpies – None

Dunstable – Beasant (foul, 24), Davies (dissent, 63)

Referee: Ben Cobb (Poole)

Attendance: 431